The present invention relates to receiver/drier/filters for refrigeration systems and particularly refrigeration systems employed for air conditioning the passenger compartment of vehicles. Typically, vehicle air conditioning systems have the receiver/drier/filter connected in the refrigerant lines between the condenser or exothermic heat exchanger and the expansion device and thus have liquid refrigerant at the high pressure from the compressor flowing through the receiver/drier/filter.
In the design of air conditioning systems for mass production of motor vehicles, it has been desired for reliability, ease of assembly and low manufacturing costs to provide for a way to quickly assemble the receiver/drier/filter in the system at installation in the vehicle. In certain vehicle installations it has been found necessary due to space constraints to provide for right angle fittings or elbows with respect to the longest dimension of the receiver/drier/filter and to provide for proper orientation of such fittings. In such installations, it has further been desired to provide a reliable, low cost way of attaching such right angle fittings to the receiver/drier/filter, of properly orienting same for installation in the vehicle; and, it has also been desired in such installations to minimize the number of parts required and to provide for permanent positive sealing of the refrigerant conduit attachment fittings to the receiver/drier/filter.
Heretofore, fittings have been attached to the top or header of a receiver/drier/filter by such techniques as threaded fittings, brazing, welding, clamping blocks and crimping over an annular convolution formed on the tubular fitting to be attached. All of these known techniques have required complex tooling and jigging fixtures for orienting the right angle fittings or elbow fittings upon attachment to the receiver/drier/filter. Thus it has been desired to provide a way which facilitates assembly of right angle or elbow fittings to a receiver/drier/filter which eliminates the need for special tools or fixtures to maintain the orientation of the fittings for connection to the refrigeration system conduits, particularly in vehicle air conditioning systems.